Legislation

Federal Court Rejects Tribal Court Jurisdiction under VAWA

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Western District of Washington rejected a claim that the Violence Against Women Act confers tribal court jurisdiction over personal protection orders issued against non-Indians. In this case, Martinez v. Martinez, the Suquamish Tribal Court had issued a PPO against a non-Indian man in favor of an Alaskan Native woman. They both lived on non-Indian-owned land on the Port Madison Reservation. The court also ruled that the tribal court exhaustion doctrine does not apply in this case.

Here are the materials:

defendant-martinez-motion-to-dismiss

suquamish-tribe-motion-to-dismiss

plaintiff-martinez-response-to-motions

defendant-martinez-reply-brief

suquamish-tribe-reply-brief

dct-order-rejecting-tribal-court-jurisdiction

Grand River Band of Ottawas before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee

Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

The SCIA will hold a hearing Thursday on several recognition bills, including the Grand River Band recognition bill (H/T Indianz).

Here is testimony from Grand River from last year.

Carcieri v. Kempthorne: Amicus Briefs Supporting the Respondent

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

They’re here, courtesy of the Supreme Court Project:

In support of Respondents:

Amicus Brief of Narragansett Indian Tribe

Amicus Brief of Law Professors

Amicus Brief of NCAI

Amicus Brief of Historians

Amicus Brief of Standing Rock Sioux, et al.

Senate Finance Committee Hearing — Witness Statements

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Senate Finance Committee:

Witness Statements:

Dante Desiderio, Certified Financial Planner, Economic Development Policy Specialist, National Congress of American Indians, Washington, DC

Donald (Del) Laverdure, Chief Legal Counsel, Crow Nation Executive Branch, Crow Agency, MT

Wayne A. Shammel, General Counsel, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Roseburg, OR

Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Tribal Tax Policy

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Go Del!

From Indianz:

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, July 22, to address tax policy in Indian Country.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), the chairman of the committee, said the hearing will address three specific issues: the Indian Employment Tax Credit, the tax-exempt bonds for tribal governments and accelerated depreciation for tribes. Witnesses at the hearing include Dante Desiderio, an economic development specialist for the National Congress of American Indians; Del Laverdure, the chief counsel for the Crow Tribe of Montana; and Wayne A. Shammel, the general counsel of Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians in Oregon. The hearing takes place at 10am in Room 215 of the : Senate Dirksen Office Building.

Committee Notice:
Indian Governments and the Tax Code: Maximizing Tax Incentives for Economic Development (July 22, 2008 )

Senate Indian Affairs Hearing on Adam Walsh

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is holding an oversight hearing this morning on tribal implementation of the Adam Walsh Act.

The hearing starts at 10am and will be broadcast at http://indian.senate.gov/public/webcast.ram The witness list follows

Panel 1
THE HONORABLE RON SUPPAH
Chairman, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, OR

THE HONORABLE RONALD LOPEZ
Vice Chairman, Tohono O’odham Nation, Sells, AZ

THE HONORABLE ROBERT MOORE
Tribal Councilman, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Mission, SD

MR. WILLIAM GREGORY
Tribal Prosecutor, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Harbor Springs, MI

MS. JACQUELINE JOHNSON
Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians, Washington, DC

Articles on BMIC and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Bills

Kate Fort

The Freep

The Detroit News

Port Huron Times Herald

Soo Today

BMIC and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Bills Defeated in the House

Kate Fort

In a vote this afternoon HR 2176–which was the Bay Mills bill and was amended in the nature of a substitute earlier in the day to include the text from HR 4115, the Sault Tribe bill–was defeated 121-298.

Congressional Vote Today on BMIC and Sault Tribe Gaming Bills

Kate Fort

From The Hill:

Pelosi to grant vote on Indian gaming bill benefiting Rep. Dingell’s district

By Susan Crabtree
Posted: 06/24/08 07:08 PM [ET]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is giving Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) a full House vote Wednesday on a nettlesome Indian gaming bill he’s been pushing for years as a surefire way to help out his cash-strapped district.

Dingell and his allies tried — albeit unsuccessfully — to insert it into various legislative vehicles despite an onslaught of complaints from high-profile opponents and others, such as convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who were stalwartly against congressional intervention in the issue.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), then the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs panel investigating Abramoff’s Indian gambling lobbying scandal, was infuriated by an effort to parachute the language into an early version of the 2005 highway bill. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), at Dingell’s urging, had placed the language deep within the massive transportation measure as early as 2003.

Continue reading →

Written Testimony from Senate Hearing on Indian Crime Bill

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs:

Panel 1
THE HONORABLE RON HIS HORSE IS THUNDER
Chairman, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
P.O. Box D, Fort Yates, ND 58538

THE HONORABLE JOSEPH A. GARCIA
President, National Congress of American Indians
1301 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036

THE HONORABLE GRETCHEN SHAPPERT
United States Attorny, Western District of North Carolina, United States Department of Justice; Chair of the Department’s Native American Issues Subcommittee, Charlotte, North Carolina

MR. W. PATRICK RAGSDALE
Director, Office of Law Enforcement Services, U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, DC

PROFESSOR KELLY STONER
Director, Native American Legal Resource Center and Clinical Programs, Oklahoma City University School of Law
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

MR. WALTER LAMAR
President and CEO Lamar Associates
Washington, DC